Sunday, June 26, 2011

Welfare (Part I)

Welfare is a social program that provides monies to poverty-stricken families who require assistance. It is another noble cause, but what do welfare policies actually accomplish to resolve poverty? Does it help improve education in impoverished areas so the poor have an opportunity to get out of poverty? Does it clean up inner cities to help influence corporations and small business to move into the area and generate jobs? The answer to these questions is no. The government pays monies to individuals that have no education and live in depressed areas where there is no prospect of work. Once again, if welfare were a temporary solution until the overall root cause of the problem was corrected, then it could be an acceptable social policy. Instead, the government continues to provide monies to one generation after another thinking the problem of poverty will correct itself. Is our government really helping people by supplying them a small sum of money to stay afloat? No. However, this never-ending social program is ideal for Democrats because it keeps minority and economically challenged individual votes in their back pocket. What if some of these social programs ended? How would Democrats be able to convince minorities and other economically challenged persons to continue to vote for them? It is advantageous for Democrats to keep minorities and the poor oppressed. Republicans are not doing anything to resolve the problem either. For the sake of an argument, let’s say an oppressed ghetto area was cleaned up and everyone in the area had jobs and a decent education through at least high school. Would there be any reason for this group of people to vote for a Democrat? Not necessarily under these new set of conditions. That is why Democrats and minority leaders want to keep minorities in poverty. Statistics indicate that African-Americans are more likely to side with Republicans as their education and wealth increases. That is correct. The more successful the African-American, the better the chance they will abandon the Democratic Party. It makes sense as they no longer want to be taxed to support social programs they do not need. Most of these African-Americans beat poverty, and know it can be done. So, many do not feel sorry for other African-Americans that are in poverty. I would not be the least bit surprised if minority leaders such as Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson vote for Republicans. They generally do what is best for them, so this behavior would not surprise me in the least. Do not be fooled by Democrats and minority leaders that are always reminding the public that the separation between the rich and poor is growing as the amount of people living in poverty is increasing. This is true, but how does welfare solve the problem? It does not because it provides minorities a minimal amount of money that keeps them in poverty, and it does nothing to address the root cause of the problems that are keeping minorities oppressed and will continue to keep them oppressed for future generations.

One major problem with welfare is that monies are handed out, and nothing is expected in return. People do not need to find a job, help clean up the neighborhood, or even try to get a better education for themselves or their children. The government hands out money with no questions asked and receives absolutely nothing in return. The government does not even have a mandate on how the money is spent. It can be used to feed an alcohol or drug addiction while ignoring their children’s needs. In order to improve a neighborhood or a person’s education, those individuals need to want the same thing. Why not hand out government money to individuals when improvements are made to the area or the individual? In other words, set individual and community goals and dispense money for meeting them. Our nation is so polarized on these issues. Furthermore, being a white person like myself, I cannot make these suggestions publicly, as I would be deemed a racist or bigot.